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Book Review of The Diplomat's Wife

The Diplomat's Wife
The Diplomat's Wife
Author: Pam Jenoff
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
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This book held me engaged right up until the last couple chapters, where suddenly it became a conspiracy theory. I expected the romance to resolve implausibly (romances tend to do that), but the author made the romance dependent upon the mystery -- which is clearly not the point of the book and clearly NOT Jenoff's forte.

The odd part is that there were no red flags through the majority of the book that the writing would deteriorate so rapidly towards the end. As a result, the climactic moments are a complete let-down. First the female narrative becomes shallow and ludicrous with no emotional nuance (he's dead! how sad! he's not dead! how shocking!) and then the romantic obstacles are unravelled through inexplicable revelations that come completely out of left field.

The conclusion of this book reminded me of the (deliberately ridiculous) conclusion to the movie "Down With Love" except without the irony. Unfortunately humour doesn't seem to be Jenoff's forte, either.